10 Greatest Pittsburgh Penguins in Franchise History (THW)
 

10 Greatest Pittsburgh Penguins in Franchise History
by THW's Justin Glock

Nothing fancy, but Glock counts down who he deems to be the Pens' greatest.

Agree or disagree?

http://thehockeywriters.com/10-great...chise-history/

Malkin should be 4.

Other than that it's solid.

Top four are pretty much spot on. Coffey should be higher.

Yep. The guy who's won two Art Rosses, a Hart, a Pearson, a Conn Smythe, a Calder and has always carried the Pens in Crosby's absence needs to be #4. No disrespect to Ronnie.

Gotta agree with Malkin being #4. Tommy B should be moved up too.

how 'bout some lists of the next 10.

Malkin should be 4 or 5, Kevin Stevens higher then Malkin.:rant:

1. Larry Murphy
336 GP, 78 Goals, 223 Assists, 301 Points
x2 Stanley Cups
x2 NHL Second All-Star Team
x2 All-Star Games

2. Randy Carlyle
397 GP, 66 Goals, 257 Assists, 323 Points
1st AST, Norris '81
x1 Top 10 in assists (7th in '81)
x2 All-Star Games

3. Dave Burrows
573 GP, 24 Goals, 108 Assists, 132 Points
x2 All-Star Games

4. Syl Apps Jr.
495 GP, 151 Goals, 349 Assists, 500 Points
Top ten in points twice (7th in '74, 10th in '76)
Top ten assists three times (4th in '74, 6th in '76, 8th in '73)
x1 All-Star Game

5. Marc-Andre Fleury
434 GP
Top ten Save % once (5th in '08)
Top ten GAA once (8th in '12)
x1 Stanley Cup
x1 All-Star Game

6. Ron Stackhouse
621 GP, 66 Goals, 277 Assists, 343 Points
x1 Top 10 in assists (10th in '76)
x1 All-Star Game

7. Mark Recchi
389 GP, 154 Goals, 231 Assists, 385 Points
NHL Second All-Star Team in 1992 (played 58 games in Pittsburgh, 22 in Philly)
x1 Stanley Cup ('91)
Top 10 in points once (4th in '91)
Top 10 in goals once (9th in '92)
Top 10 in assists once (4th in '91)
x1 All-Star Game

8. Sergei Gonchar
322 GP, 54 Goals, 205 Assists, 259 Points
x1 Stanley Cup

9. Ulf Samuelsson
277 GP, 11 Goals, 83 Assists, 94 Points
x2 Stanley Cups

10. Alex Kovalev
365 GP, 151 Goals, 203 Assists, 354 Points
Top 10 in Goals twice (5th in '01, 8th in '03)
Top 10 in points once (4th in '01)
x2 All-Star Games

11. Martin Straka
560 GP, 165 Goals, 227 Assists, 442 Points
Top 10 in assists once (3rd in '01)
Top 10 in points once (4th in '01)
x1 All-Star Game

HM to Darius Kasparaitis, Ron Schock, Mike Bullard

Tocchet, Robitaille, Larouche, and Kjell Samuelsson just didn't play here long enough for me to put them higher than these players even if they were better than some.

Fleury too high, Recchi too low, and not enough Randy Carlyle. I think Greg Malone deserves an honorable mention too.

Joey Mullen gets pretty high in my next 10.

I can buy all that, expect Carlyle is there. I punished Recchi too much for the lower GP probably, and rewarded Fleury for being the second goalie to win a cup. I had Malone there with the HMs but cut him off so I can see that.

Whoops, call that one an omission.

I missed Carlyle, don't know how. Well no, I do know how, it's because I'm a spastic.

Mullen should be there, though.

Coffey should be a lot higher on the list.

I'd be fine if Barrasso was left off the list. Tommy Boy was lucky he had a stacked team in front of him. I can remember many a stretches where he really sucked. If it wasn't for the team in front of him putting up 5+ goals a game, he wouldn't have had the stats he had.

I would put Malkin 5th on the list "at this time." Two scoring titles and a Conn Smythe is > Stevens and I'm a hyooooge Stevens fan (pre-Pilon hit).

How can Malkin not be in the top 4? It's arguable that he should be number 3. Two Art Ross trophies, a Hart, a Conn Smythe, Calder, etc... It should be pretty obvious.

I wouldn't put him at 4 just yet. You can't discount Ronnie Francis. One of the most underrated players in NHL history, ever...

Another strong season and yeah, he's #4 though.

Barrasso could have won a Conn Smythe and nobody paying attention would have felt Mario got robbed.

agreed. Sid gets the bump for being the face of the new generation and captain and all that extra stuff. Geno will be there. Those two play their whole careers as Pens and I have a hard time seeing them staying behind Jagr.

Barrasso's work other than those two playoffs was pretty average. He really **** the bed for a while for the Pens IMO. I don't think 2 years with a stacked team should get him in the top 10 list.

those two playoffs were a pretty big deal. He's the best goalie the franchise has ever had and he helped us win 2 Cups. That gets him into pretty much any top 10 list.

Those two playoffs were a big deal but there was a hell of a team in front of him. I don't think he should get the Max Talbot treatment because it's not like he stood on his head to win the cup those years. He played like ass against the Devils and if it weren't for Pietrangelo, we probably don't make it to round 2.

Barrasso is the 2nd best goalie this franchise has had behind Fleury. It's only a matter of time before Fleury has more wins than him.

Anyways, I'm not really here to bash on Barrasso. I just don't think he's in the top 10 players for the history of this franchise. He's somewhere in the next group of 10-20.

I disagree. So be it.

Francis was a great player for many years but he was NEVER the best player in the league for any given year. Not even if you didn't include Lemieux or Jagr. Can't say the same for Malkin, he's had seasons of dominance at a level that Francis just never achieved. He wasn't that far off, but even if you eliminated Jagr and Lemieux from the equation he wouldn't have won a hart or art ross or conn smythe.

Malkin already has more 100 point seasons as a Penguin than Francis did in 2 less seasons (if you include the year Francis split between the Pens and Hartford).

The Art Ross>the Lady Byng and the Hart>the Selke. Add a Conn Smythe to Malkin's hardware after only 6 seasons (2 of which he was pretty hampered by injuries).

I'm not knocking Francis at all because he was an amazing player but Malkin has had the better career as a Penguin so far.

This just goes to show how spoiled we've been with offensive talent. It's really quite ridiculous.

I disagree. Francis is #4 all-time on the NHL scoring list. Think about that.

Again, I'm saying Malkin is #4 next year after a strong year. I just have Francis there because he spent 8 years with the Pens and was so important to the cup teams and years afterwards. I'm not just talking about offense either. Francis may be one of the top two-way players of all time. His defense and ability to win key faceoffs was top notch.

It's really because of longevity IMO. I see Geno #4 next year.

agreed. Francis was a rock for us for years. It's not an insult to be stuck behind Franchise on any list. Geno needs to add some consistency year to year before he passes him in my opinion.

This isn't a career ranking, it's a Penguins ranking. Francis' all-time point total doesn't factor in, only what he accomplished in Pittsburgh.

The fact is that Francis was a great two-way star, but he wasn't ever on Malkin's level. Malkin can carry a successful team on his back single-handedly. When you have Francis carrying a team, you end up with the '80s Whalers.